1, 15, or 28 for silavi :)
By now, this had become something of a game for them.
A tacit standoff near the end of their allotted time together, each quietly daring the other to acknowledge it. Forty-eight hours come and gone in what seemed like an instant, respite in one another felt so keenly in the moment seemed to be over before it had even begun. Each of them silently dreading the moment Avira must once more become the Inquisitor, as Adrian must likewise return to being Silver.
They lounged together on a chaise by the open walkout to the courtyard, eyes set on a steady rain outside. Rare in Minrathous, and precious for it. Not unlike Avira herself, Silver thought, the rise and fall of his bare chest in cadence with the softness of her breath across his skin. She seemed adequately lost in their quiet repose, as he would have her, but heâd learned enough by now to recognize the tiniest twitches in her arms and her cheek against him. Tension making itself known in the tiniest of ways, wanting to say something but not without bracing first.
Sheâd be the first one to say it this time.
âWhat would happen, do you think, if I just...donât leave?â
Avira shifted so she could look up at him, no doubt expecting his face to say something his voice wouldnât. Sheâd learned enough to know it would.
âEver?â He raised his eyebrows, with a playful downward curve of his lips. âI suppose you had better hope they donât know where to find you. Think of the scandal - âmissing Inquisitor found, refuses to leave Tevinter pleasure houseâ.â His mouth pulled into a wide smile. âIf we enlist everyoneâs help now, perhaps we will be able to prepare the Oasis for the inevitable siege in time.â
âDonât be ridiculous,â Avira scoffed, half-smirking with a sideways look. âYou think my commander would actually bring siege engines into Minrathous just to get me to come back?â
âOh no, we would be besieged by my neglected patrons long before your armies would arrive, siege engines or no.â
She chuckled a little at that, but neither found it as funny as it should have been. Quite the bittersweet thought, that outside of these two days each month they belonged only to each other, they each seemed to belong to everyone else.
Silver smoothed her curls away from her face and just studied her for a moment, all his fondness for her on full display in his eyes, his smile, his touch. It wasnât often the weight of being Avira showed itself for how heavy it truly was, but heâd said the same from the day they met: he would have her find some peace here, and a place to set down her burdens.
âSuch trouble, to be the happiest man in existence, grinning smugly as I keep the most important woman in the world to myself.â
Ordinarily, Avira would quip something back regarding his tendency toward hyperbole, but this time, perhaps the heaviness of how much she wished he would keep her to himself left her smile weak.
âIs it really too much to ask that someone else be the most important woman in the world, though? Just for a little while?â
As though staying here would make her any less important. Not in this world. Not to him.
âNo one else could, Iâm afraid.â Gently, he guided her head back against his chest, and pressed a kiss into her hair before resting his cheek on top of it. âHowever, as Alba demands that I rest as long after Lady Elenar leaves, I doubt the world would collapse if you were to remain another day.â
He felt her smile against him, and couldnât keep from smiling himself.
âAnother day it is, then.â
Their game decisively delayed, there was little else to do but settle back into each other and watch the rain for a bit longer.
